


Regent

by thiefofbluefire



Series: Overwatch Hub [13]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Conspiracy, Crack Treated Seriously, Danger, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Infiltration, Mission Fic, Pre-Fall of Overwatch, Slice of Life, Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:00:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28425126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thiefofbluefire/pseuds/thiefofbluefire
Summary: "Gabriel!" Torbjörn howled, finally getting him to pause."If Jack and Rein are dead, and Ana is out of the country then that makes YOU strike commander!"
Relationships: Mei-Ling Zhou/Original Character(s)
Series: Overwatch Hub [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1007754
Kudos: 1





	Regent

How did these kinds of things always happen?

Not five minutes after Jack had marked director Petras' most recent email as read, did one Gabriel Reyes come flying through his office door like a disturbed cat.

"Jack!" The Blackwatch commander called as he frantically dove over Jack's desk and basically into his lap.

"Gabriel- hey!" Jack had no idea what could possibly get him like this.  
As far as he knew, Gabe had been on the phone with Ana and Fareeha for the past couple of hours. And now he's spooked?

"What are-!"

"If anyone asks, you never saw me!" Gabe rushed through saying as he crawled down Jack's knees and under the desk.

"Get out of there!"

Whatever it was, there was no way it warranted Gabriel getting anywhere near Jack's legs.

"No! I gotta hide! Just act natural!"

"What're you hiding from?!" And no sooner did Jack ask the question did he get his answer.

"JACK!" Boomed a mighty voice from the hallway before the Herculean head of their own crusader poked down into the doorway, which Gabriel graciously left open.

Jack cleared his throat. "... Reinhardt."

"Hast you seen Gabriel?!" The behemoth growled, pissed off.

And, because Jack never took his own advice, his response was a cucumber cool, completely believable,

"No. Why?"  
Complete with his hands folded on the keyboard and an eyebrow raised for emphasis.

Rein grumbled in response and stomped away from Jack's office, satisfied that an answer was given, but not happy about the commander's alleged cluelessness.

"What did he do?!" Jack called after him before turning his head down to whisper at Gabe. "What did you do?!"

"Nothing!" He hissed. "He thinks I stole one of his Hasselhoff albums!"

Uh oh.

If one of Rein's David Hasselhoff albums, and God forbid that it was one of the vinyls, had been stolen or disappeared in any capacity, then a travesty had been committed in the HQ and this time Reinhardt thought it was Gabe behind it.

"Did you?!"

"No! It was either Briggs or McCree but I can't go find out which while Rein's still pissed!" Gabriel replied, glancing about to listen for Reinhardt's retreat through the hall.

Given the two options, it was probably Briggs that was responsible. Because Olìver "Loki'' Briggs didn't receive his call sign for being the top button professional killing machine that his state of uniform would lead you to believe. And, even though Loki and McCree were both somewhat notorious pranksters on base, Jesse McCree probably wouldn't be able to convince Reinhardt that Gabriel had stolen his music.

"Hey..." The Blackwatch C.O. suddenly purred. "Somebody wasn't skipping leg day! These are nice..."

Jack had a half second to process the statement before Gabe started slowly, lovingly, stroking his calves and his ankles through the his pants. Goosebumps ran up his spine at the contact, and with the single, teeth clenched thought of 'Nope', Jack raised a foot and slammed it onto Gabriel's hand.

"Ow!" The Blackwatch commander barked. "Aw Fuck!"

Gabe had had this lesson a million times, but he never seemed to remember the first rule of living with another super soldier was this; don't, under any circumstances, touch his feet.

He shot a dirty look up at Jack after he withdrew his hand to nurse the bruise, one Jack fired right back. They both knew they both hated people touching their enhanced, oversensitive feet, yet one of them was still guilty of doing it after all these years.

Neither looked sorry.

"Boss? Gabe you in here?" Came a southern drawl from the doorway.

Jack's head snapped up as Gabe's number one man, Jesse McCree, meandered into his office. Gabe perked up under the desk and hovered a hand over Jack's knees. Panic hit Jack as he could feel the gears of the universe spinning towards disaster.

Completely oblivious to Jack's plight, McCree gave him a deer in the headlights look for a moment before he squared his shoulders and tentatively took his hat off, pressing it to his chest.

"Uh, howdy Morrison." He greeted, more formally. "I think I know what happened to Rein's music Sir. Briggs mighta took it."

"Really?!" Gabe shouted as he shot out from under the desk, headbutting Jack's chin in the process. "Where is he?!"

"Guah! Ho! I didn't see nothin!" McCree yelled as he smashed his hat back onto his head and took off running.

"Jesse! Jess, wait!" Gabe yelled after him, scrambling out of his hiding spot and running after the cowboy. "Come back, it's not what you think-!"

"THERE YOU ARE!" Reinhardt boomed as soon as Gabe disappeared from view.

"Oh FUUUUUUUUCK!" And Jack saw Gabe running the other direction past the open door, followed immediately by Rein's pounding feet.

"... How do I always get myself into these situations?" Jack groaned into his hands after the loud footfalls in the hallway petered out. "Always. How?"

God knows what the image of the Blackwatch commander hiding under the strike commander's desk looked like to the cowboy. The barracks was going to have another rumor before long, Jack could feel it. Sure, McCree wasn't a squealer by his own claims, but his comrades knew how to get him yapping.

Oh the indignity.

Everyone was bouncing off the walls recently. Not a bad bounce, per say, but it was noticeable enough to maybe be trouble soon.  
It might've been the upcoming mission, coded as 'Operation Alter feind', the main strike team was going on tomorrow.

The mission was going to take the team to Germany in order to investigate reports of omnic mobs appearing to be acting as a hive mind. There was unrest, property damage, several injuries to local authorities (one of which was fatal), and the world was scared thinking there may be an omnium brain somewhere in the homeland of the crusaders.

The odds of a full omnium waking up since the end of the crisis were slim, but not non-existent. If the stars had just aligned, then Rein's home was in trouble.

Well, then the whole world was technically in trouble. This just made it personal to Overwatch.  
So, with the preparations being made, and Petras' signature on the call to order, Jack's strike team was to depart at full strength on the morrow to good old Germany.

Thing was though, missions featuring The strike commander leading the charge weren't new or particularly uncommon occurrences. Certainly nothing to get the base as excited as they all seemed to be.  
Hell, If there hadn't been so much press coverage of what was going on in Germany, then Jack would've had Blackwatch take care of all of it. Gabe wasn't in charge of the mission, but he wasn't mad about it either. So what had Blackwatch riled up?

Jack wasn't sure, but his jaw was hurting too much after it's recent acquaintance with Gabe's head. He massaged it and squeezed his eyes shut to relax his mind.

"Is there an exercise I wasn't invited to?" Came yet Another voice from the door to Jack's office. He needed to get a new lock.

"They seem pretty enthusiastic about that running..." The voice Jack knew belonged to Winston continued before giving a knock on the open door. 

"Uh, Morrison? You hoo? Uh... I can come back if you're-"

"Winston." Jack interjected with a sigh, looking up at his new company with a neutral expression. "Just... What did you need?"

At the question, Winston straightened up a bit and gave an excited smile.

"Oh. Well..." He was bouncing. "They just got in! She's back!"

It took Jack a second before he realized what the ape meant. 

There was THAT as well.

THAT would be reason enough to get the base excited like it was.

Jack pushed out of his chair and jogged to Winston's side.

"Show me!" He ordered.

"Right this way Commander!" Winston complied happily.

The slipstream incident hit home on a few levels for everyone stationed in Switzerland. For one: captain Lena "Tracer" Oxton had made a name for herself as the youngest pilot to grace their skies. She had one of the bubbliest, most approachable, personalities Overwatch ever knew and she worked hard to earn her position as captain.

When the time came to pilot the experimental jet named after her team, Tracer had accepted the opportunity to test it with a smile.

That was the last time Jack saw her.

Two weeks ago, Petras and Overwatch's main branches were sent various emails with footage of a semi-visible, petite figure wandering around the London eye. Begging, crying for anyone who could tell her what had happened.   
Everyone in slipstream's development and a few others specializing in paranormal science were called to London to help her with varied results.

Communication with the young captain was limited, but possible.  
Physical contact on the other hand; not even slightly, and therefore her health had been a concern constantly brought up when she was present enough to be understood.

Because those moments where she was actually there could also slip away.

Sometimes she'd disappear for only moments.  
Then she vanished once and didn't reappear for four days.

They'd all had enough by that point.

At the suggestion of Mercy, corroborated by Winston, and approved by Everyone, Overwatch reached out to her most unsung founder.

Six days ago, former security chief Liao Li landed in London.  
Then there were results.

Jack dashed ahead of Winston on the way to the South side tarmac, hoping to get a good look at the big electromagnetic fish tank he'd heard about.  
If the bustling members of the science and engineering departments running to and from the tarmac was anything to go by, then Jack was right about why the base was wired.

Beckoning the troops around with a subtle but commanding presence despite his comparatively casual state of dress, was Liao. Taking charge as if he'd never left.

"Li!" Jack called with a wave as he made his approach.

Hearing that, Liao perked his head up, turned to look in Jack's general direction, and, with neither a smile nor any hint of good will, addressed Jack with;

"... Commander Morrison."

A greeting that put a pointy stick through Jack's bubble of enthusiasm, and his hand immediately faltered down from it's position above his head.

"Coming through! Coming through!" Rang the prim voice of doctor Sebastian Klein as he cut in front of Jack and Winston with arms full of cables and other pieces of electrical equipment.

Jack floundered a second, blinking with his hand hovering awkwardly as he processed that yeah, that was Klein running around, and no, Li didn't say 'Hi' back.

"Hold on, commander," Winston warned as he brought a big hand in Jack's path, guessing the commander's want to go and speak to his old friend.  
Still confused, but this time by what would warrant the gorilla's intervention, Jack canted his head to see what Winston was looking for, and a distinct pang of stress nailed him where he was.

Apparently Klein had been dropping bolts and other assorted hardware pieces as he was buzzing about, but foresaw he'd do such a clumsy thing and thus enlisted the help of his tiny robot... Pet?

Baby?

Whatever he was to Klein.

Anyway, David was a custom Omnic roughly the size of a three year old child that absolutely hated Jack, and would regularly point an accusing metal finger at him for one reason or another just to be ornery.  
Little David toddled in front of Winston with a bucket in hand, picking up the "breadcrumbs" Klein was leaving behind. In front of Jack's foot lay a thin washer the bot saw, shuffled to, bent over, and picked up to deposit in his bucket before looking up at Jack.

The commander's eye twitched and he frowned.

"Go with Daddy," Jack ordered with a finger pointing in the direction Klein went.

In response, David's optics gave the illusion of shrinking pupils with the use of his aperture lenses; the little omnic's version of ire.

"Don't give me that look, go find your dad!" Jack hissed. Arguing with Klein's child was not how he wanted to spend the day.  
"Go find your dad or I'll find your mother!"

Not that Moira would be displeased with David's behavior, but the threat was still there.

"Move along David," Winston cooed, gently shooing away the Omnic. "There's work to do."

Of course, the little one listened to Winston, and buzzed a little harrumph before waddling after a dropped wire.

The strike commander shook his head with a huff. David’s resentment shouldn’t have been able to sour his mood so easily, and yet.

Winston chuckled good naturedly beside him, perking up when the bustle became drowned out with the engine of a transport hovering through.

Petras must’ve had a funny definition of what a fishbowl was: the thing on the transport was a glass and metal box.

Parading behind it with the box’s power cells was Torb's jeep. The chief engineer wasn’t behind the wheel for this occasion, his help needed elsewhere. Instead, quartermaster WEB was driving and the cranky omnic must’ve been in a special mood, as he proceeded to honk the horn at Winston and the commander.

Jack shot him a pointed look before the omnic stood in his seat and yelled out.

“Look alive thunderbolt!”

Just then, inside the box lit up with a pale blue glow. The power cells on the jeep sprang to life, funneling energy into the box via snakes of cables and coils. The light was almost blinding as the transports trekked onward, but Jack and Winston fell into step beside it all the same.

“She’s in there?” Jack turned to the gorilla with a cocked brow.

Winston squinted at the light, nodding.

“Oh yes,” he said. “Just give her a moment.”

The light blinked behind him, and Jack turned back to it with a hand up to shadow his eyes.

Dully, a silhouette approached the glass wall, miming the motions of a yawn before springing up with a start.

“Hiya!” the shadow waved, and Jack felt his eyebrows shoot up. “Sorry I’m late!”

It was her.

“Captain Oxton,” Jack smiled with a salute. “We've missed you.”

She gasped behind the glass, stamping her feet excitedly before straightening out and puffing out her chest, returning the salute.

“Still moving here, we cannot delay!”

Dropping his hand, Jack glanced ahead of the transport.  
Klein had little David in hand as he and Liao flagged over the vehicle. Taking the hint, Winston and the commander backed away as the transport drove ahead, Tracer waving at them as she went.  
Klein handed David off to Li, mouthing something firm to the child before hopping on the jeep as it passed him. Crew members trailed after the vehicles in a swarm, the volume of which Jack's ears didn’t appreciate, and he and Winston ducked away to somewhere more bearable.

"... Is Liao mad at you?" The ape scientist asked with a hum after they could hear themselves think..

"...uh..” Jack replied dumbly “I'm not sure."

So Winston noticed it too.

"Because that was really odd earlier." Winston pointed out as he made an adjustment to his glasses. "I thought he'd be happy to see you."

So did Jack.

"You get to outfitting Mercy and the others for Tracer's examination. I'll see about him." The strike commander assured with a pinch to his eyebrows and a faux smile.

"Yes sir." The ape said with a salute before ambling off to the lab where Tracer would be staying for the time being.  
Jack watched him go before blowing out a breath.

Between David and how positively elated he was to actually see captain Oxton safe and mostly sound, he almost forgot that non-greeting Li had given him.

He was glad that Tracer was here, truly, but what the hell Li?

Because Jack Morrison was never a putz, he took a look around, formed the question in his head, found Liao looking at the floor near engineering, and brought the concern forward without the pleasantries.

"Li, are you mad at me or something?" The strike commander asked, getting Li's startled attention. "I get that you don't work for me anymore, but would it kill you to look me in the eye like you're not a complete stranger here?"

"What- you think I'm mad?" Liao stammered, blinking.

"You didn’t exactly say otherwise. Winston seems to think so too. Are you?" Jack pressed, crossing his arms.

"No." Li replied, frowned, swayed his head, then added, "Well, not at you."

"Oh no?"

"I mean it. It's just been a weird week," the sixth sighed, fidgeting with a watch on his wrist. "What with the ace from slipstream reappearing, and of all people I'm the only one that she can touch for some reason, and all the new equipment around here, and Stuff." he shrugged.

Being called out to bring Tracer back from that shit show of a situation would be reason enough for anyone else to be in a funk, but this was mister wise guy, laughing at your pain, liar extraordinaire, sass-master second only to Ana, Liao Li. Brooding quietly while staring at the floor after a "weird week" wasn't his usual method of processing reality.  
There could only be something else.

"... Are things alright back in Lijang?" Jack asked, slightly more delicate in his tone.

"More or less." Liao hummed, giving a little bob of his head. "Been trying to keep busy."

"And?" Jack prompted.

"Mei's better at it than I am apparently." He grumbled, crossing his arms.

Mei ling-zhou. To the uninvolved, she was an Overwatch climatologist with her work cut out for her. To everyone that was there, she was the one who caught Liao's eyes at a gala. And, after Jack coaxed them to get to know each other better, his heart.

Li retired from his position as security chief so he could give it to her.

They'd been engaged for months now.

Jack was a little sad to see him go at the time, but ultimately was fine with the arrangement because Li had always been, and always will be, good at only two things; running his big mouth, and working himself harder than he ever should. If getting hitched to Mei could make him relax and focus on making himself happy by her side, then Jack was willing to let him go.

Though, that much could only apply if they were genuinely happy together.

Did something change?

"Have you two been... Talking?"

"What?" Li asked, raising confused eyebrows.

Jack probably should've phrased that better. Asked 'are you fighting?' because Li talked to everyone. If the man ever shut up, it was because he was sleeping, dead, or knocked out. Ergo, of course Liao and Mei were talking!

"Eh- uh... Well." Li's face made a couple of visible attempts to understand what Jack meant before reverting back to plain, casual confusion. "Yeah, of course. Why?"

"Because I'm your friend and want to know?" The strike commander asked rhetorically, throwing a hand up. "You know that you can tell me these things, Li. Or, if you don't want to talk to me, then you can always call Ana, or Rein, or Gabe, or Torb, Winston, or even Mercy. You have people here that care if everything's okay at home." 

Jack didn't mention how every single one of them would be willing to break into Mei's lab and 'kindly' explain to her what a mistake she'd be making if Li wasn't happy. 

Mostly because Li already knew.

"Everything Is okay at home, Jack." Liao assured him with open palms and locked elbows. "It's... Just.." then his eyebrows knitted together stressfully. 

"Been a weird week." The former security chief finished, sighing.

Li was acting weird and evasive, and that he wasn't being clear with what was really bothering him stung. But before Jack could push for better answers, he heard before he saw a very affectionate Gabriel approaching from the hall behind Li.  
Which meant the conversation was basically over.

"Li!" The Blackwatch commander shouted gleefully as he charged towards Liao with arms splayed; ready to hug and cuddle.

"No! Back!" Li snapped as he whirled around and smacked the Blackwatch commander's hands away. "Gabe don't you touch me, that's not what I want!"

It might have been Li's personal electric field, but his black hair started standing up on its ends like a fuzzy cat with his hackles raised. Which made him cute, and therefore Gabriel wasn't deterred.

"C'mon, lemme hug you!" The man whined playfully, reaching for him again and getting smacked away. Again. "Li!" 

Gabe was in a good mood, and his smile was contagious. Before long, Jack's mouth turned up and he decided he wasn't going to be mad about earlier.  
Given more time, Li would most likely be able to break out of his funk as well.

The sound of jingling spurs around the corner Gabriel came from was their only signal before McCree poked his head out with a toothy grin.

"Chief!" The cowboy rejoiced before two of his teammates' heads came around and looked over his shoulders at the commanders.  
Said heads belonged to Genji Shimada, probably just getting back from the gym for his strength tests, and none other than Loki, the Blackwatch mischief maker himself.

As Jack had suspected, it looked like Loki was behind the missing Hasselhoff album after all, and had a busted lip and a black eye to show for it. Though, that he was still standing and walking around probably meant McCree was the one that hit him, not Gabe or Rein.  
Which also probably meant Briggs and his partner Tanaka had toilet detail for the evening and the rest of Blackwatch were getting double, maybe triple drills in the morning.

But the boys were just happy to see Li.

“I'm not the chief anymore, Sundance,” he said just a little wistfully as the cowboy approached to shake his hand.

“... Well what're we supposed to call ye then?” asked Briggs with a friendliness he didn’t show to the other agents.

Li raised an eyebrow at him, but didn’t answer, instead offering him his hand and a bow at the waist to agent Shimada.

“Briggs, shimada-san,” he greeted. “You sticking to that regiment Ziegler and I set up for you, Genji?”

“Hai.” the cyborg replied, bowing in return.

“Good.”

“So how's our little miracle girl?” Gabriel asked as he took a place next to Jack. “This is fucked on a lotta levels, she doing okay?”

“She seemed tired when I saw her,” replied Jack. “but still herself, so I’m hoping it was the jet-lag.”

Gabe wrinkled his nose.  
“She can still get jet-lag?”

“Well, with Ziegler, Klein and O'deoran's analysis of her condition underway, we'll all know for sure soon.” Liao elaborated, crossing his arms.

“Moira-san?” Genji asked with narrowed eyes.

“Aye, this don't seem like 'er area o' expertise,” added Briggs. “ye sure she's qualified? What about miss Mina?”

“She's here too,” Li assured them. “Who do you think talked me into coming back to Switzerland?”

“I assumed it was Mei.” supplied Mccree.

The former chief pursed his lips and shook his head at the cowboy, who then clamped his mouth shut.

“Look, don't doubt Moira, gentlemen,” Gabe scolded his men before clapping his arms behind his head. “We can't be too careful with our precious Tracer now; god knows what the void was actually doing to her.”

“Amen.” agreed the cowboy.

“Oh yeah,” the blackwatch C.O. smacked his lips. “Jack, don't you have a mission in 25 hours?”

“Twenty five?” Liao unfurled his arms and looked at a small watch on his wrist. A beat passed and he glanced back up at the commanders.  
“ Jack, that means you're already late.” he clicked his tongue playfully.

“Am not.” Jack disagreed. “Preparations are well underway. There’s no need to start fretting about time constraints until it’s time to select the away team.”

Which he’d actually already done five hours ago.

“Then shouldn't you be sleeping?” Li countered. “Resting up?”

“I have plenty of time. Trying to get rid of me?”

“Would I do that?”

“Would you?”

“Guys, don't be silly,” Gabe interjected, wrapping a hand across Jack's shoulders. “He doesn’t need that right now.”

A familiar onset of panic hit Jack as an evil little light twinkled in Gabriel's eye.

“What he should be doing is loading up! C'mon Jack!”  
With that, he gripped Jack's arm tight and pulled him out into the hall.

“G-Gabe! Gabe! Stop it!” Jack protested, his shoes squeaking against the floor.

“What? Quit complaining, I'm gettin you dinner,” Gabriel laughed, not minding the other’s efforts to stop.

“You don't have to buy me dinner, Gabe.”

“Fine. Then you're buying.”

How did Jack always get himself into these situations?

**Author's Note:**

> A tale we've been sitting on since year 2.  
> Bout time it was told.


End file.
